Team Rio Tinto, 1983 (Dr Eduardo Minguito Cardeña, 2nd row, fifth from the left)


run simulations because we need their experience about the interpretation of the results to make the final adjustment of the hull lines and appendages. MARIN has some 400 experts. In this case size is important!”


Following up on that point, you have seen almost all the test basins in the world. What are the main differences between other facilities and MARIN?


“MARIN has one of the biggest, if not the biggest, basins in the world. More employees, more experience and this is vital to keep its position in the market. MARIN’s people want to go far in facing new challenges.”


AESA is seen as one of the founding fathers of the CRS which had its 50th anniversary this year. How do you implement the results of CRS research into your day-to-day business?


“Over the years CRS has contributed many important tools to enhance propulsion, seakeeping, manoeuvring… At NAVANTIA we are very enthusiastic about CRS, we use PRECAL, PROCAL - all the tools. And vitally, CRS has led to 50 years of knowledge being built up. Essentially it is an enormous technical library.It is easy to find references to non-usual problems and then find solutions. It is great that companies, which are often competitors, can have open discussions in the working groups about common problems.”


MARIN has always been challenged by your research questions. Is it important to have a good ‘sparring partner’?


Courtesy Navantia 8 report


“I have never seen myself as a sparring partner! But perhaps this is because I usually have a challenging project, requiring non- standard, complex technical solutions. We have to use the tools in a new way, design new methods etc. It is often the first time we walk a particular path.I remember decades ago a US shipowner asked the


yard to design a 100-metre catamaran which would be used as a casino. At that time, we didn’t know much about cats. I knew I needed MARIN! We worked together and used a revolutionary tool at that moment: a lineal CFD code for designing the hull lines! This happened at the end of the eighties when nobody thought about using the first CFD codes for practical tasks. On top of that, this meant that we dealt with many of the philosophical issues right at the beginning of the project. So I guess, we can consider ourselves sparring partners!”


Finally, how will you transfer your knowledge to the new generation at NAVANTIA and given that hydrodynamic research has been such an important part of your life, how will you survive without it?


“The transfer of knowledge has been done! I have been working closely with my colleagues for 14 years, I think they are ready to fly by themselves without my help. Perhaps I admit, I will miss the chance to tell them funny stories though. But hydro- dynamics is my profession at the end of the day, you always have to have your mind open for new opportunities. Maybe I will do a second doctoral thesis in economics, which is another passion of mine.”


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